Just a blog from me, teaching English and instructing teachers in a TEFL course, in Mexico city.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Mexican Trucks Across the Border

Mexican truckers will finally be allowed across the US border past the 40 km limit they previously had. This ends a 17 year NAFTA dispute and ends Mexican tariffs against a range of US products coming into Mexico.

US and Mexico have signed a deal to allow their trucks to use each other's roads, after a 17-year dispute.

The 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement called for Mexican trucks to have full access to US highways, but they were kept to a border buffer zone.

In 2009, Mexico imposed higher tariffs on dozens of US products in response.

Officials said the deal would address safety concerns over Mexican vehicles. Business groups welcomed the accord but US trucking unions have condemned it.

Under Nafta, US and Mexican carriers were authorised to cross the border.

But the the US refused to allow Mexican trucks full access, citing concerns of their ability to meet US safety and environmental standards.

Mexican vehicles have generally been allowed no further than 40km (25 miles) into the US.

The Mexican side has pushed hard for Mexican trucking to have full access to the US as agreed upon in the NAFTA agreement in 1994. The US has put up legitimate concerns but slow to propose solutions in areas such as cross-border checks and safety regulation compliance. Trucker unions in the US have put up the biggest objections fearing loss of jobs and income for US based truckers.